Automatic sprinkler.



A. J. LOEPSINGER.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER.

APPLICATION FlL-EDgMAR. 30, I918.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

G.\; W" I wo vvgp To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT onmon.

\ ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, OF EDGEWOOD, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO GENERALFIRE EXTHVGUISHER COMPANY, OEPROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION 01NEWYORKP- nu'rom'rlc SPRINKLER.

Be it known that. I, ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, citizen of the United States,residing at Edgewood, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticSprinklers, of which the following is -a.

. specification.

My invention relates to automatic sprinklers of the type in which thesprinkler is normally held closed by means of a frangible vessel nearlyfilled with a liquid and is permitted to open, when sufliciently heated,by the fracturing of the vessel resulting from the expansion of thecontained liquid.

In order to be practical, a s rinkler of i this type should be soconstructe that when the frangible vessel bursts it will be shattered tosuch an extent that no part of it can remain as an obstruction tointerfere with the openinglof the sprinkler, and as one way of accomp'shin fracturing temperature is relied on to de velop asufiicientshattering pressure. Such sprinklers, however, are open to the objectionthat theiroperating temperature is rendered uncertain by reasonof thetendency of the gas to escape from the liquid prior to or during thesealing of the vessel, the result of which is that changes in the finalvolume of the liquid or in the thermalcoeflicient of expansion, or both,are produced by partial loss of the gaseous contents of the liquid.

In a sprinkler embodying the present invention the objection abovereferred to is. overcome by the employment of a frangible vesselcontaining a gas-free liquid and a gas a which is, soluble in the liquidonly sparingly,

if at all, at atmospheric pressure. The terms gas-free and sparinglysoluble, as used above, are intended to mean that the amount of gascontained in the liquid when introduced into the vessel, or absorbed bythe liquid before the vessel is sealed, is nlefiillgible so far as theoperation of the s'pr' er is concerned. Since the liquid is gas-freeboth prior to and at the time of sealing the vessel its coefiicient ofexpansion does not change durmg sealin .and a predetermined definitequantity of t e liquid and the gas can be p v Specification of LettersPatent. 4 Application flled larch 8Q, 1918. Serial No. 225,748

this result it has been.pro-. posed to emp oy, a liquid which is chargedyoke 3, whereby Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

sealed in the vessel by lmown methods, so

a that all factorsaifecting the operation of the yessel are controlled.Substantial accuracy m respect to operation at a predeterminedtemperature is thus secured in the case of a single sprinkler, and thisresults in uniformity of o eration in the case of a quantity of the spr'ers, which are essential prerequisites to the practical use ofsprinklers of this type. When the sprinkler is heated the 1 gas whichfills the expansion space in the vessel is forced into solution in theliquid as the latter expandsand is suddenly released as soon asthe'vessel is fractured at the operating temperature, and I have foundthat although the volume ofgas is small compared with the volume of theliquid itself, its explosive eflt'ect when released is neverthelesss'uflicient to produce the necessary shattering efiect on the vesselwhen fractured.

A formof sprinkler in which my invention may be embodied is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which the figure shows the sprinkler invertical section. 7

The sprinkler illustrated comprises a body portion 2, a yoke3 screwed atone end into .the body portion 2, a resilient valve seatl:

clamped between the yoke and-body portion and having acentralperforation, a valve 5 resting on the valve seat 4 and normally closingthe perforation therein, and a deflector 6 carried by the free end ofthe yoke, all of the parts above mentioned being of familiarconstruction. In addition, the sprinkler includes a ring 7, preferablycast integral with the yoke 3, a cap-piece 8 resting on and centered bythe valve 5, and a frangible vessel consisting of a glass bulb 9interposed be tween the cap-piece 8 and the ring 7 and serving as astrut to hold the valve 5 against its seat. The neck 10 of the bulbprojects upwardbeyondthe ring 7 and is received within a space left inthe upper end of the it is protected from accidental breakage, the bulbis received within and kept in POSI- tion by a concavity formed in thetop of the cap-piece 8 and conforming to the contour of the,bulb, theparts being so proportloned that when'they are assembled and the yoke 15screwed into the body portion to clamp the and the rounded bottom ofagainst the valve by its own elasticity.

. heating it and its contents to a temperature,

determined by trial, which is less than the intended operatingtemperature but bears a definite relation to it, depending upon theelasticity and coeflicientof thermal expansion of the" material of whichthe bulb is made. This preliminary heating causes the liquid to expandand overflow, leaving in thebulb the proper amount of the liquid tofracture itwhen' sealed and subsequently heated to the operatingtemperature. The

. bulb is then cooled to normal temperature, or

below, whereupon the contained liquid contracts and leaves an expansionspace above. it, and during such contraction the gas with which theexpansion space is to be filled is permitted to pass freely into-thebulb. The pre aration of the bulb, the neck of which pre erably has acapillary bore, is completed by sealing the neck in the usual way, andthe -.bulb is then combined with the other, parts of the sprinkler asalready explained.

The liquid which I prefer to use in the bulb is carbon tetrachlorid,which is non-inflammable and chemically stable anddoes not freeze incold weather. It also has a boiling point at atmospheric pressure whichis higher than the temperature at which most sprinklersare designed tooperate, and this fracturing temperature of the bulb isbelow the boilingpoint of the liquid there is no danger of loss of liquid by vaporizationduring the preliminary heating process above described.Carbon'tetrachlorid also has a high coeficient of thermal expansion, sothat after it has expanded sufiiciently to fill the bulb completely itrequires but aslight additional increment of heat to produce fracture,which contributes tothe accuracy of the sprinkler as regards itsoperation at a 1 predetermined temperature. A further result of its highcoeiiicientof expansion is that its contraction in volume is relativelygreat when cooled after the preliminary filling operation, and hence thegas-filled expansion space has a relatively large volume and theshattering action is correspondingly increased. The gas with which theexpansion space is filled preferably consists of an, since air ispractically insoluble in liquids at at- I mospheric pressure and its usesimplifies the process of preparing the bulb by enabling the preliminaryheating and cooling to be carried on in the open air. 7

Various liquids and gases other than carbon tetrachlorid and air may beemployed" 1n the construction of sprinklers embodying mfy inventlon, andthe operating temperature .0 the sprlnkler need not necessaril be lowerthan theboiling point of the liquid at atmospheric pressure, but if theboiling point of the liquid is below the temperature the bulb thisheating should be done while the liquid is subjected to a'pressuresuficient toprevent loss by vaporization, and preferably in anatmosphere of the gas with which thaexpansion space is to be filled. Insuch.

case, when the sprinkler operates the shattering efi'ect may beincreased by partial vapori zation of the liquid itself, whichsupplement the effect produced by the suddenrelease of the gas forcedinto solution in q the liquid.

While my, invention is particularly adapt-l ed and intended for use inautomatic sprin- 'klers, it will be evident that the above-describedfrangible vessel and its contents, in

which the novelty of my invention primarily resides, constitute anarticle of'manufacture which can be used as a thermostatic release"- ina variety of devices intended to operateat a predetermined temperature.

I claim:

' 1. An automaticsprinkler comprising, as

remaining space is filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in theliquid at atmos-t pherlc pressure. v

2. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as

a means for normally holdin the sprinkler is an advantagev for thereason that 1f the closed, afrangible vessel near y filled with a liquidwhich hasa boiling point higher than the intended operating temperatureof the sprinkler, the remamlng space within the vessel being filled witha s which is sparingly soluble in the liquld at atmospheric pressure. 1y

3. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a means for normally holdingthe sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel nearly filled with a liquidwhich has a high coeficient of thermal expansion, the remaining spacewithin 7 the vessel being filled with a gas which is sparingly solublein the liquid at atmospheric pressure.

4. An automatic sprinkler comprisinxg'has a means for normally holdingthe spri er closed, a fran iblevessel nearly filled with carbon tetraclorid, the remaining space within the vessel being filled-with a gaswhich is sparingly soluble in the carbon tetrachlorid atatmosphericpressure.

5. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a vmeans for normally holdingthe sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel nearly filled with carbontetrachlorid, the remaining space within the vessel being filled withair.

. 6. An article ofmanufacture consisting of a frantgible vessel which isnearly filled with a gasree liquid and in which the remaining space isfilled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the liquid atatmospheric pressure;

7. An article of manufacture consisting of a frangible vessel nearlyfilled with 'a liquid which has a high co-eflicient of thermalexpansion, the remainingvspace within the vessel being filled with a gaswhich is sparingly soluble in the liquid at atmospheric pressure.

8. An article of manufacture consistin of a frangible vessel nearlyfilled with car on tetrachlorid, the remaining space within the vesselbeing filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the carbontetrachlorid at atmospheric pressure.

Signed at Providence, Rhode Island, this 28th day of March, 1918.

ALBERT J LOEPSINGER.

